Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

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They say losses come in threes. After saying goodbye to Sly Stone and Brian Wilson earlier this month, now we say goodbye to English musician, songwriter and vocalist, Mick Ralphs.

The founding member and lead guitarist of Bad Company died on June 23, 2025 at the age of 81. He was a member of Mott The Hoople before joining Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell (1946-2006) to form one of the biggest & most successful supergroups in music history. Ralphs wrote and co-wrote many of Bad Company’s biggest hits, including their debut single, “Can’t Get Enough”, along with “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Simple Man”, one of my top favorites from the group.

At least Ralphs was aware that Bad Company was finally inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s Class of 2025. But because the band’s nomination was decades overdue, his honor will now be added in the posthumous category which is an absolute shame. It will make the ceremony this November quite bittersweet for Ralphs’ family and his two surviving bandmates, Rodgers and Kirke.

Michael Geoffrey “Mick” Ralphs: March 31, 1944 – June 23, 2025.

“And you fly away today
And you fly away tomorrow
And you fly away
Leave me to my sorrow“.

Top: Bad Company circa 1974 (L-R): Boz Burrell, Mick Ralphs, Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke. Bottom: Kirke, Rodgers and Ralphs circa 2012. Both pictures courtesy of the band’s website. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

The Guess Who released their sixth album, American Woman, 55 years ago in January 1970. The title song hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in May of the same year. My favorite song of theirs was the Top 5 hit they had the year before. The band re-recorded it after it originally appeared on their 1969 album, Canned Wheat.

The 1970 release was also the last to feature singer, songwriter, guitarist & founding member Randy Bachman, who went on to form Bachman–Turner Overdrive in 1973.

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Leon Russell’s self titled debut was released 55 years ago on March 23, 1970. The first track remains the best known song of his career as well as his most beloved one. It has been covered over 200 times by such acclaimed artists as Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Willie Nelson and Ray Charles, who won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 for his version. Russell died in 2016 at the age of 74 after a nearly 60 year career.

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The Carpenters first #1 song was released on May 14, 1970. It reached the top spot in the country on July 25 where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. The album by the same name followed in August 1970. It started the brother-sister duo’s reign as one of the top selling artists of that decade and Karen’s legacy as one of the best female singers of all time.

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Closer to Home by Grand Funk Railroad was released 55 years ago on June 15, 1970. It was their third album and peaked at #6 in August 1970 thanks to the power of the title track, one of my favorite songs by the band.

Overall they had four Top 10 hits & two #1 hits (“We’re An American Band” on Sept 1973) and “The Loco-Motion” in May 1974. Another cover-“Some Kind Of Wonderful”-peaked at #3 in Feb 1975.

My other favorite song from GFR is from their ninth album release in December 1974, All the Girls in the World Beware!!! The single was released 50 years ago (on March 24, 1975) & peaked at #4 in June 1975 as the band’s last Top 10 hit.

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Bette Midler had a Top Five hit in the country 45 years ago. It was the title track from her 1979 film debut which was released as a single in March 1980, peaking at #3 in June of that year. The soundtrack also includes a fabulous cover of Percy Sledge’s #1 hit from 1966, “When A Man Loves A Woman”.

Midler won The Golden Globe For Best Actress for her performance along with a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the role which started her career as a leading lady. The Divine Miss M will celebrate birthday #80 this December.

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And it was 40 years ago-June 28, 1985-that “St. Elmo’s Fire” was released. It was another film aimed at the younger crowd following the teen-centered hit movie by John Hughes, “The Breakfast Club”, which came out just four months earlier. The second film, which featured two of the same stars-Judd Nelson & Ally Sheedy, who played doomed couple, Alec & Leslie-along with four other “Brat Packers”, was written & directed by Joel Schumacher. The movie was a look at life through the eyes of seven recent Georgetown graduates who were now in the real world with all its problems that were no longer cushioned by the subtext of college.

During the scene where Leslie is moving out of the apartment she shared with Alec, he is carefully monitoring which albums she is taking from their collection. When he shouted, “No Springsteen is leaving this house!”, I felt that. I loved this movie from my first watch and still get lost in it to this day. And two of its stars-Rob Lowe and Demi Moore-would keep the 80’s vibe going in yet another installment of 20-something angst, 1986’s “About Last Night”.

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Bad Company: “Seagull” (1974, written by Mick Ralphs and Paul Rodgers).

The Guess Who: “No Time” (1970, written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings).

Leon Russell: “A Song For You” (1970, written by Leon Russell).

The Carpenters: “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.)

Grand Funk Railroad: “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” (1970, written by Mark Farner).

Grand Funk Railroad: “Bad Time” (1974, written by Mark Farner).

Bette Midler: “The Rose” (1979, written by Amanda McBroom).  

David Foster: “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire (Instrumental)” (1985, written by David Foster).

Stay safe & well.